French Open 2011: Rafa Nadal, King of Clay, Masters His Court in the Semifinals

It took a little over three hours, but Rafa Nadal succeeded in reaching his sixth French Open final. Rafa was not only able to celebrate his possibly tying Bjorn Borg's record with a sixth French Open title, he also celebrated his 25th birthday.  What a great birthday present!!

Throughout the match, despite a few rough patches, Rafa showed why he is referred to as the King of Clay.  He played and covered the court exceptionally well both offensively and defensively, making it very hard for Murray to counter his playing. 

Rafa, though his break point conversion rate was only 46 percent, was able to maintain key breaks, allowing him to hold the advantage overall. Ironically, Murray actually had more break point opportunities on Rafa, but unfortunately, he was not able to convert the breaks into points.

Murray, simply could not find himself in this match.  Rafa’s agility and skill on the court is matched by very few. And not only did Murray have a disadvantage when it comes to Rafa’s abilities going into the match, he also was playing with a rolled ankle injury that he experienced in a previous round.

In fact, there was a point in this match that it appeared that he was either having some discomfort, or he may have re-injured the injury. Though Murray had a few great shots at the net, he simply did not have enough game to make a difference against Rafa.

In the end, Rafa was able to pull out the win in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.  It is sure to be an exciting match as Rafa looks to add another record to his already extensive list heading into the final on Sunday. Looking forward to some great playing from Rafa.